Murray-Djoko clash is like an optical illusion

The men’s final finds two players who enjoy Melbourne tremendously pitched against each other. Novak Djokovic has won the tournament four times and if he wins the fifth one, he will become the first man to achieve this remarkable feat. However, if there is one man who can prevent him from achieving that, it’s his opponent Andy Murray who has been in several finals here and must now be really hungry to win the title.

A match between Murray and Djokovic can often seem like an optical illusion. They have incredibly similar all-court games. They are the biggest counter-punchers in the game and have the most powerful backhands in the business. Their matches are defined by incredibly long rallies and tend to be intensely fought affairs. And no, I will not predict the winner because I am too close and too invested in the encounter to even pretend to be objective!

However, it is good to see that Murray has continued the good form that he had displayed last fall. He was very good in the half-a-dozen tournaments he played to qualify for the ATP Masters and did well in that tournament as well. His build-up to Melbourne, too, has been impressive both at the Abu Dhabi exhibitions as well as at the Hopman Cup.

At the Australian Open, he started really well but came into his best after his win against Grigor Dimitrov. That game really helped Murray up his standards and reach the quality that we have come to expect of him. I do see him really compete well this time. He is now a two-time Grand Slam champion and knows how it’s done.

For Djokovic, the run-up to this tournament and indeed the tournament itself has been quite fantastic. The semi-finals against Stan Warwinka might have given him the work out he needed ahead of the final. Djokovic enjoys the Melbourne crowd and has always performed well in the Rod Laver Arena. A word for Warwinka as well. He has had some incredible games against Djokovic in the past and this was one more in that series. I would watch out for him in the coming Slams.

Finally, the early exit of Roger Federer and the quarter final exit of Rafael Nadal have fans writing the epitaph for the ‘Big Four’ Era. I would wait for a little more time before doing that. Anybody can have a rough day and Federer did. As for Nadal, there are very few players I know who can come into a Grand Slam after playing seven games in seven months and still make the quarters.

We have really set unreasonably high standards for the Spaniard!

(Gameplan)